The Death of Stalin poster

The Death of Stalin (2017)

Film · 1h 47m · Rated R

Comedy, Drama

A frantic, darkly comic power struggle erupts among bumbling cronies after a dictator's sudden death.

Bleak, with dark satire. A full-attention watch at a brisk pace. Emotionally it is heavy. Based on true events.

Streaming on Paramount+, AMC+, Kanopy (free), Pluto TV (free) and Plex (free).

The Death of Stalin parents guide

Of what we could confirm, nothing runs past an R: some violence and frequent strong language.

Scare
Not scary
Jump scares
None noted
Gore
Light gore
Some blood or injury, briefly.
Violence
Some violence
Some fighting or peril.
Sex and nudity
None flagged
It is rated R, so treat our zero as unconfirmed.
Language
Strong
Frequent strong profanity or slurs.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

How gory is The Death of Stalin?
Light gore and some violence.
What is The Death of Stalin rated, and is it OK for kids?
Frequent strong language. The R is earned, so not for kids.

What is The Death of Stalin about?

When dictator Joseph Stalin dies, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. As they bumble, brawl and back-stab their way to the top, the question remains — just who is running the government?

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

Bittersweet. It earns its ending, but not everyone gets what they want.

Cast and crew

Directed byArmando Iannucci
StarringSteve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin, Rupert Friend

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The Death of Stalin is on our Comedy on Paramount+, AMC+, Comedy on AMC+, Drama on AMC+ and Comedy on Pluto TV lists.

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.